Transportation officials are watching a weather system closely and are getting the roads ready for a winter blast.

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With changing weather conditions on the way, crews will be working to make sure the roadways are safe.

Hours before the first rain drop fell, the city of Louisville's first brine trucks hit the road.

“Coming in as rain first, it’s always difficult to deal with, because the meteorologists themselves have a hard time predicting when it will turn to snow, so we watch and wait and see,” said chief district engineer Matt Bullock.

That distinction--of rain or snow--determines how the roads will be treated.

Brine can be washed away if too much rain falls before the snow, but if the roadways are salted too early, when they are still dry, traffic can run the salt off the road.

“That's a judgment call, there's no rule book saying how much rain, but about a quarter to a half inch it won't be effective,” said Bullock.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is opting not to brine the interstates before this system moves through.

They'll spread salt with the 11 state salt trucks in Jefferson County once the snow comes down.

Crews will be on standby Friday night, along with additional contractors if needed.

“Sometimes you see trucks sitting by the side of the road so that's what we're going to do, wait for frozen precipitation to fall before we can treat it,” said Bullock.

With holiday travelers still passing through, and a lot of activity this weekend around the Cards and Cats game, there's sure to be plenty of traffic this weekend, but that actually helps those salting efforts, getting the rock salt broken up and into the roadways.